The Last Day of Summer in the South-West
'Sun-Bathing Seal'
Me, taken on the return trip to Starcross off of the east facing side of the Starcross Ferry, of a seal lying on a floating platform. The ferry went off route to go up close to it and the detour was announced over the tannoy system by the ships captain. October, 2024.
The final weekend in October marked the last day of summer for me in Devon.
It was dictated completely by the other final occurrence of the year - the last Saturday day of the Starcross to Exmouth ferry crossing, before it hibernates for the winter. It felt special to me to make time to catch the ferry one last time.
The little ferry leaves Starcross every 10 minutes past the hour from morning til late afternoon, following the route of the Exe estuary as it flows into the sea, but stopping short of going abroad at its destination of Exmouth. The boat follows its path along the rivers edge from the end of Starcross pier, winding past Cockwood bay, across to the Dawlish Warren Nature reserve, and then curving round to face its final approach towards Exmouth marina. What you see along the way is down to so many different factors: the weather, the tide (high or low), the season, or whether you are looking off one side of the boat or the other.
Incredibly it was shorts and t-shirt weather in late October (I know) at Exmouth. Blue skies and ice cream and a walk along the beach in bare feet followed.
I caught the ferry back in the afternoon after a relaxed wander and reflection of the summer and how nice it has been to have this trip and beach as one of my new routines in my new life in Devon. It has been my little discovery. I think I have been on it 6 or 7 times. I took my mum on the boat too, when my parents visited Devon.
On the return to Starcross, we went slightly off route to go look at a seal which was bathing on a floating platform outside of Starcross - my first seal spot! I spoke with the boat captain who told me how the route has been under their ownership since the mid-80’s, which is a long time.
He also announced that this was not the final Saturday trip, as they would be opening the route up again one last time for the following weekend. However, as I’d had such a nice day, I felt that my last time trip was complete and decided to ignore this fact. This had been the last journey of the year for the ferry and my final day of summer sun on the beach.
'Three groups having fun'
Me, of a yacht, a row boat, and a dog, all having fun in their own ways off of the beach at Exmouth. I tried to time the photo so that the dog would be mid-shot. It was hard for each element to line up, and one of those moments where there was only one chance to get them all in the photo. I decided to prioritise the dog as it was fastest and most focused on its intense game of fetch. October, 2024.
'Surfin’ not U.S.A.’
Me, of a man on a weird surfing board, off of the coast of Exmouth beach. I was stood in the water to take the photo, and was being very careful to not full over with the washes waving about. Although similar format to ‘three groups having fun’, I like that it is of one of the strange appearances you see on the beach here. Strange in that I have no idea how those surf boards work and why they have what I would call ‘aero’ on them. October, 2024.
